Your 2018 CSR Battle Plan

A new year means new plans - including a great CSR plan. But knowing that you want to create and implement a successful process and actually doing so are two different things. Many companies struggle with the latter. In fact, "research and work with corporations across the geographic and business spectrum show that companies’ CSR activities are typically divided among three theaters of practice," according to Harvard Business Review, and "transforming and replanning the current business model to better reflect CSR" is third.

This year, we really want you to succeed, so we’ve created a step-by-step guide to do just that! Follow the actions below to ensure that your company is able to implement CSR incentives like never before:

Step 1: Get Your Customized Resource Pack

First, you need the right resources to get started. However, not every company needs or wants the same things, nor will every company have the same impact based on budget. So, how do you find what works for you? That’s where the CyberGrants Customized CSR Resource Pack comes into play.

If you’ve been tasked with corporate philanthropy, grants management or CSR initiatives, you know how challenging it can be. It’s important to get your objectives, goals and hurdles figured out. Tell us about your efforts and goals, and our internal experts will deliver a resource pack just for you. Get yours here!

Step 2: Find an Outsourced Vendor

Using a system to help track and manage philanthropy efforts while engaging with your donors can help you better understand your true impact. Given that, what type of system should you be looking for? Is there one (or many) qualities you should be on the lookout for? The answer is yes! To be strategic in corporate philanthropy, organizations require a powerful platform backed by subject matter experts.The ideal solutions will have some (or all!) of the 7 qualities featured in our Outsourced Vendor Checklist!

Step 3: Get Exec Buy-In

You’ve narrowed down the system you need and calculated your goals, now you need to convince the rest of your team and higher execs that this plan will work!

By using our Exec Buy-In Quick Guide, you’ll have access to step-by-step instructions to gather the information, data and support you need from your organization before making your pitch for the new partnership to your executive team.

Here are some key topics the quick guide covers:

Show how CSR software improves the organizational challenges

Identify who you need to get buy-in from and how to find and engage them

Gather research about how CSR software will affect your organization

Templates and directed fill-in-the-blanks to make sure you don’t miss a beat in your pitch

Step 4: Drive Business Growth

Having giving programs and CSR incentives aren’t only good for the people/charities involved; they help your business, too. In fact, more than half of online consumers around the world have said they would pay more for products and services from companies that are socially and environmentally responsible. So having even the smallest plan in action can reap huge benefits as far as growth is concerned. But how can you ensure this happens?

Knowing the areas of interest that your employees want to help with and how you can expand on them

What you need to do to achieve the “seal of approval” from your customers

Build on true employee engagement (more on this later!)

Step 5: Build Employee Engagement

If you want to succeed you need the power of the people behind you. Your employees need to not only be on board, but also need to be fully engaged in the events and opportunities you are providing. Without their support, your CSR plan could easily fail while your employer brand and reputation take a critical hit. Luckily, we have just what you need to get them involved!

Before being able to create the engagement, make the connection to what the financial and brand impacts will be on your strategy. Our Building Employee Engagement resource dives into just that, in addition to discussing the role of communication and an updated model to help your corporate philanthropy work. Use it today to achieve your giving (and engagement) goals!

Step 6: Strategic Corporate Philanthropy

If you’ve done steps 1-5 you most likely have a pretty good foundation to expand your CSR strategy into a great success. But, just to be sure, we wanted to provide you with one more resource to help you use your plan as efficiently as possible. Why? Because creating true success isn’t just about how many people sign up for your programs or how much you recieve in giving donations, it goes way beyond that.

Today’s companies understand that it’s about more than signing up for a new system or creating another nameless, ineffective program. What you need is a step-by-step guide to a successful execution of a corporate philanthropy program so you can have a great process that will work. Find all this and more within our Strategic Corporate Philanthropy Guide.

Your journey to a successful CSR plan doesn’t have to be a hassle, nor is it impossible. With the help of our many resources, you can get your company on the right track to help benefit your customers, your business and charities all around the world! Work to get your plan started with our 2018 CSR Planner and never miss an opportunity to do good.